Iranian missiles strike two UAE tankers, killing one crew member

The U.S. military on Monday carried out a five-hour bombardment of six Iranian cities, targeting sites in Bushehr, Chabahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. The strikes, described as a move to “further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping,” were conducted at the direction of President Donald Trump, CENTCOM said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-aligned Fars News Agency reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Chabahar and Konarak. Flight-tracking information showed at least a dozen U.S. military aircraft circling over the Middle East, including surveillance and intelligence aircraft and refueling tankers, CNN reported.

Earlier Monday, Iranian missiles struck two United Arab Emirates-flagged tankers — the Mombasa and the Bahia — in the southern Strait of Hormuz within Omani territorial waters, the UAE’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The attack killed one Indian national and injured eight others, six of them Indian and two Ukrainian, the ministry said.

The IRGC said in a statement late Monday that it retaliated by attacking the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, setting its fuel-storage tanks “ablaze” and destroying a Patriot radar, the fleet’s air-control radar and a C-RAM early-warning radar system. “The retaliatory operation is continuing,” the IRGC said.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said late Monday that alarms had been activated and urged residents to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”

The United States canceled all appointments for the coming days at its embassy and consulate in the UAE. CENTCOM also said the naval blockade on Iranian ships would resume at 4 p.m. EDT Tuesday. President Trump announced the United States could charge a fee on each ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz equal to 20% of its cargo value in exchange for U.S. protection.

The escalation marks the collapse of a fragile cease-fire that had been in place since late June, when the two sides reached an agreement on maritime security. Fighting resumed last week over control of the strait, a chokepoint for roughly one-fifth of the world’s petroleum. The Trump administration said it is seeking to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels, while Iran seeks to maintain control of the shipping lanes.